


things we lost and found again

by theblackwingedking



Series: The Definition of Normal [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Enemies to Friends Again, Gen, Reconciliation, sorceress!Ashe, werewolf!McCree
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:28:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28095423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theblackwingedking/pseuds/theblackwingedking
Summary: Before you read this, note that this is set in the same universe as my main fic,The Definition of Normal.It takes place after chapter 13, so read that first before reading this. It also sorta works as a standalone, but isn't really meant to be that way.
Relationships: Elizabeth Caledonia Ashe & Jesse McCree
Series: The Definition of Normal [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2058255
Kudos: 6





	things we lost and found again

**Author's Note:**

> Before you read this, note that this is set in the same universe as my main fic, [The Definition of Normal.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27373621) It takes place after chapter 13, so read that first before reading this. It also sorta works as a standalone, but isn't really meant to be that way.

_ Ashe’s footsteps echoed off the walls of the cavern as she walked through it, looking left and right for its inhabitants. Where were they? She’d summoned them, the demons, to wipe out the defenders at the monastery, and then… What had happened after that?  _

_ She took another few steps, feeling uneasy in the unnatural silence. The cavern, the home of her Deadlock demons, was completely empty save for a dim orange glow at the far end. As she approached it, she realized it was the glow of her golem, her best friend. Her protector, the one being who always had her back. There had been another, but…  _

_ No. Now was not the time to think about it. About him. “She approached Bob, realizing the magic holding him together had completely fallen apart, as if ripped apart by an outside force. His head, the source of the glow, blinked at her as she knelt down to examine him.  _

_ “We were defeated, weren’t we, Bob?”  _

_ The head blinked again.  _

_ “The gang, they’re regenerating?” _

_ Another blink.  _ _  
_ _ “Goddamn.” Ashe leaned against the wall of the cavern. “Almost had ‘em, didn’t we? And McCree, too…” _

_ She was cut off by a second voice. “Ashe.” _

_ “Bob?” _

_ “Ashe. Hey.” _

_ “Bob, what-” _

_ “Elizabeth Caledonia Ashe, wake up!” _

Ashe jolted awake to McCree, violently shaking her shoulder and staring at her. Reflexively, she reached for her Coach gun, but it was not at her hip as usual. Another more thorough examination of her surroundings revealed that she was lying on a cot in a small room, wrapped in a few bandages. Pain lanced through her side, and she winced, lying back down and staring up at the werewolf.

“You were shakin’ in yer sleep. Figured I’d wake you in case you were havin’ a bad dream or some.”

“Jesse McCree, when I’m healed, I swear to you-”

“You’ll kill me, I know. I wasn’t exactly enthusiastic to give you medical aid, but Zen insisted, so here I am. Well, that, and another reason.” 

“I… lost?”

“Y’did. Pretty darn bad, too.”

“But- I was winning. How-”

“Y’know, I don’t exactly know either. Some dude showed up n’ set the whole place on fire.” McCree scratched the scruff on the back of his neck. “All I know is you wound up ‘ere and now we’re takin’ care of you.” He lit a cigarette, then held the pack out to her. “Want one?”

Ashe’s eyes widened in surprise, but she propped herself upright against the wall at the head of the cot, ignoring the pain. She took one, he lit it, and they sat together in a comfortable silence for a while, as if she hadn’t been hunting him across the globe for decades only to end up in his care. 

It was nice, sharing a smoke with a friend again. Not a friend, she reminded herself, although that reminder was half-hearted at best. It wasn’t until both of their cigarettes had burnt down to stubs that Ashe spoke again. 

“Been a while since we’ve done this.”

McCree nodded. “Sure has been.”

“Been a while since we talked, too.”

Another nod.

“McCr-- Jesse,” she corrected herself, “I hate to admit it, but… I missed this. Missed you.” 

McCree didn’t respond, suspecting the sorceress had more to say.

“It’s been a long time since… y’know. You left t’ go with that man, Reyes, and I… I guess I was pretty selfish back then. Didn’t take into account what you wanted to do with your life.

“We were a family, though. Felt unfair that you just had to up n’ leave like that. It was me, you, Bob, the demons… All of us, against the world. But when you left… Damn, Jesse, that hurt me. It hurt Bob, too, although he won’t admit it. I joined the Hunters, not because they paid well, but because I was so caught up in the idea of revenge and getting you back. I guess I kinda forgot who you were to me before you left.”

McCree nodded, taking his hat off and placing it to the side. “I guess we both fucked up, didn’t we? I left with Reyes without much of a word or an explanation, and you, well… we know the rest. I suppose I owe you an explanation.”

Ashe chuckled. “It’s the least you could give me.”

“Reyes… he showed up one day, when you n’ Bob were out doin’ somethin’ I don’t remember what. But he said he could help me. Help me control my Shift and help me blend back into society. He said I could either spend the rest of my years hidden away in the Gorge, or he could teach me to become the closest thing to human I could be. And I accepted, because, well, wantin’ to be human was the thing I wanted most at the time.” McCree pulled another cigarette out of the pack, lighting it and bringing it to his lips. “I dunno what I was thinkin’ back then, y’know. I really shoulda explained it to you. But there was a part of me that felt like even if I told you, you wouldn’t have let me leave.”

Ashe stared at the wall, contemplating for a moment. “Back then, I guess you were right. I was pretty selfish at the time, y’know. I guess I felt insecure, and needed something to cling to. That something happened to be you and Bob.”

McCree nodded, and the pair relapsed into silence as the werewolf worked his way through another cigarette.

A few minutes later, Ashe looked down at her bandaged hands, lying in her lap, and took a deep breath. 

“Jesse?”

“Yeah?”

“D’you think… D’you think we could maybe…” She trailed off, McCree leaning forward to better hear her as her voice became quiet.

“D’you think we could start over?”

McCree raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair. “I think we could. Might take a while, but I think we could be that family again.” He reached underneath him, pulling out Bob’s head, which had been sitting under Ashe’s bed the entire time. “Bob seems to agree with me, or at least I think he does.”

Ashe looked at the werewolf in surprise, but turned away after a moment, smiling softly.

“That’d be nice.”


End file.
